Stapling machine



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N V EN TOR. Herman .1 Spencer HIS ATTORNEYS H. J. SPENCER STAPLING MACHINE Oct. 6, 1953' Filed lay 24, 1949 Oct. 6, 1953 H. J. S PENCER STAPLING MACHINE Filed May 24, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v m l E m l I: T? E a i 5m 8m 5 3N a 0N DN 8N I 1 E J -l/ w W My n i v 8 nun INVENTOR. Herman ispencer Oct. 6, 1953 H- J. SPENCER STAPLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 24, 1949 INVENTOR. Herman J. Spencer H/s .arromvsrs k mw m Patented Oct. 6, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

This invention relates to a stapling machine or similar machine for stapling or fastening paper, fabric or other material together. The stapling machine is of the plier type adapted to be operated with one hand.

One object of the invention is to provide a stapling machine which operates by direct mechanical action to drive staples through the material acted upon, the material also being positively held between the jaws of the machine so that spring pressure is not relied upon either in exerting the staple driving force or in maintaining the jaws in contact with the material being operated upon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine which has a relatively large opening between its jaws so that long staples may be employed and thick material can be operated upon without increasing unduly the spread between th operating lever and the base member. of the machine which are grasped while performing the stapling operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastening machine which will release its grip on the work immediately after a staple or other fastener has been applied thereto and clinched and before the staple driving plunger starts to return to its original position. Thus the stapled material can be withdrawn immediately without waiting for the staple driving plunger to return to its original position, thereby saving time where a series of stapling operations is to be performed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flexible front cover for the staple driving channel that will move, allowing a defective or jammed staple to be ejected from the driving channel and without the danger of bending the driving blade.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism that will retain the plunger in a lowered position so as to block the staples from moving into the driving channel until the machine is to be used for a stapling operation.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the stapling machine showing the parts in their starting positions; this also is the position of the parts after a stapling operation and after the operator has completely relaxed his r Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the parts in position after the staple driving plunger has risen, allowing a stapl to move forward into the driving channel, showing the operating lever as having rotated slightly and the under-center locked position between the plunger actuating lever and the link as having moved to unlocked position;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing the parts with the jaws having moved closer together to clamp the material being stapled; and showing the staple driving plunger as having remained in a raised position;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the parts at the completion of a stapling operation;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the driving or front end of the stapling guide or housing withthe driving channel head removed;

Figure 6 is a partial longitudinal section taken on the line VIVI of Figure 5 with the driving channel head in place;

Figure '7 is a front elevation and Figure 8 is a side elevation of the staple driving plunger;

Figure 9 is a front elevation of the pivotally mounted removable head with the guide members secured therein;

Figure 10 is a plan view of the head shown in Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a section taken on the line XI-XI of Figure 12 and Figure 12 is a plan view of the plunger actuating lever;

Figure 13 is a section taken on the line XIII-)HII of Figure 14 and Figure 14 is a plan view of the link which connects the plunger actuating lever and the operating lever;

Figure 15 is a section taken on the line XVXV of Figure 16 and Figure 16 is a plan view of the operating lever;

Figure 17 is a side elevation and Figure 18 is a front elevation of one of the driving channel guides; and

Figure 19 is a partial side elevation showing the removable driving head held in place on its pivot by a spring.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the stapling machine has a base member 2 having at its forward end an anvil 3 provided in its upper fac with a depression 4 for clinching a staple which has been driven through material M. The base member 2 has upturned sides 5 and each of the sides 5 has an extension or arm 6 extending in an upward direction. The upper part of the stapling machine is constituted by a channel shaped housing member indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The housing has two sides 8 and a bottom 9 and is open at its top, and ends. Adjacent its rearward end the housing I has two downwardly extending ears In which abut against the insides of the side walls of the base 2 and the housing and base member are pivotally connected to each other by a pin I I extending through the ears I6 and the sides 5 of the base member.

The housing I has a horizontally extending partition plate I2 which provides a staple guide channel or magazine I3a between the plate I2 and a U,-shaped member I3, which member is secured to the base 9 of the housing I. A clip of staples I4 is placed in the staple guide channel, I3a and the staples are urged forwardly (to the left as viewed in Figure 3) by a staple pusher l5 fitting in the staple guide channeL. A. rod I6 extends through the pusher I5 and through a finger grip I! located at the rear end oi'thestaplc guide channel. A spring I8 surrounds the rod I6 and presses at one end I9 against the finger grip I1 and at the other end against the pusher I3. The action of the pusher and spring is to force the staples I4 into a staple driving channel 22 located directly below a staple driving plunger 23 which is mounted to reciprocate in a plungerguide channel 24.

The construction of the staple driving channel 22 is best illustrated in Figures 6, 9 and- 10. A head 26 which is U-shaped in cross section as shown in Figure 6, has a front plate 26a. and two side plates 26!), the side plates fitting within the sides 6 of housing I'. The head extends upwardly beyond the housing sides 8 a considerable distance and is provided with a slot 260 for a purpose hereinafter described. Left and righthand plates are secured by spot-welding to the inside walls of plates 2817. As shown in Figure 17, the upper part of plates 25 is recessed at 25a. providing a plunger guide channel 24 between plates 25 and front plate 26a of head 26. The lower portion 25b of plates 25 is formed inward to provide a staple driving channel 22'. The sides 26b of head 26, and plates 25 are notched. at III to fit over pin If carried bythe housing sides 8 and have a shoulder i2 contacting the front end of bottom 3 ofhousing 1' (see Figure 19). A spring 42'. looped around pin II has its ends 42a formed inwardly (see Figure 6) to rest on the edges of sides 8: of housing; T; Spring 42 extends upwardly along both sides of head 26 with part 42b ofspring 42 pressing against the head 26 (see Figure 19') to urge head 26 counterclockwise on pin 11. Spring 42 extends in almost a straight line upward from pin II to its resting place onhead 26, thus preventing any upward motion of head 26 from pin II. The head 26 can be lifted upward and forward to remove it when spring 42 is pulled clockwise on pin II. However, the head- 26' can be rotated clockwise on pin II against the pressure of spring 42 to release a jammed staple. When head 26. is rotated, the driving plunger 23' and its guide channel 24 are alsorotated- The staple driving plunger 23. is reciprocated by a plunger actuating lever 3|)= formed of sheet metal and having two: sides 3011 connected by a body portion. 30b. The forward end of each ofthe sides 30a is. provided with a knob 32. which fits into a notch ltd-provided in the; staple drivingplunger 23- and is. movable in the slot. 260. in the head 26. The plunger actuating lever 33. is pivoted on a pin 33 carried by arms 6 of the base member 2. The pin 33. can move relative. to. the housing I but cannot move relative to the arms 6 or base member 2. Accordingly. movement of ment of rivets 36.

4 the pin 33 causes relative movement between the base member 2 and the housing I.

A link is pivoted at its forward end, as viewed in Figure 1, to the rearward end of the plunger actuating lever 30 by rivets 36. The link has two sides 35a connected by a body porton 35b. The rearward end of the link is pivotally connected to the lower end of an operating lever 31 by rivets 3.8, the operating lever 31 being pivotally mounted on the sides 3 of housing. I by a pin 3.3. The operating lever 31 has two sides 31a connected by a body portion 31b. The rivets 33 lie below the center lines connecting the pivot pins 33 and 30 and pins 33 and II, A spring is wound aroundthe, the pin 39 and has one leg 40a pressing against the upper side of cross-member 35b of link 35 and. the other leg 40b pressing against the upper side of the partition plate I2. The leg 40b resting on the rearward end of plate I2 holds said plate downward in proper alignment to form a staple guide I-3a. Plate I2 is rigidly held downward in proper alignment at its forward end by pin 1|.

In Figure l, rivets: 36 are slightly below the center line between pin- 33 and rivets 38 and cross-member 35b on link 35 is in contact with the edges 300 of lugs 30d on the plunger actuating arm 33, thus limiting the below center move- Leg 40a of spring 46 tends to keep rivets 36 in their below center line position by exerting pressure on the cross-member 33b of link 35. The plunger 23 is not high enough in its guide channel 24 to allow a staple I4 to feed into the driving channel 22 below plunger The stapling machine operates in the following manner.

With the parts in the starting position shown in Figure 1, material M to be stapled is placed between the lower jaw 3 and the jaw 53 formed by the lower surface of the head of the housing 1 and head 26. Pressure is exerted by one hand byplacing the palm of the hand along the side of the housing with the thumb and a part of the palm over the operating lever 31 while the four fingers grip the base member 2. Due to theunder-center locked position between thelink 35 and plunger actuating Iever30, lever 31 cannot rotate clockwise on its pivot pin 39. Thus,

, pressure on lever 31 and base 2* will cause down ward movement of housing I and upward movement of base 2, thereby bringingjaw 3 and head 53 toward each other as shown in Figure- 2, with practically no rotating motion of the lever 31.

, The upwardv movement of base 2-- and the pin 33 carried thereby raises arm at and arm 30 raises plunger 23 in its driving channel 22. Downward movement of housing 'I also lowers the driving channel relative to plunger 23 so that 1 the plunger assumes. a position. in the upper part of the driving channel as shown in Figure 2, thereby allowing-a staple Ii4 to. move forward into the driving channel 22 belowplunger 23. Note in Figure 2 that. end 32 of arm 30 was stopped by the, upper cross-brace 26c of thehead 26, causing arm. 33 to. pivot counter-clockwise on pin 33 and thus. moving rivets. 36 slightly above the. center line of pin 33 and rivets 33.

Further hand pressure brings the jaws 3 and- 63: closer together and into contact with material M as shown in Figure 3. Movement of the operating lever from the position shown in- Figure 2 tothat shown in- Figure 3 although moving the jawstogether to graep material M, does not cause lowering or the staple driving plunger 2t until the jaws are stopped by said material. Clockwise rotation of lever 31 causes rivets 38 and 36 to move upwardly in an arc, having the pivot pin 39 as its center. Upward movement of the pin 36 would cause counter-clockwise rotation of the plunger operating lever 39 about its pivot 33 if the pivot pin 33 were prevented from moving relative to the housing 1. However, the pivot pin 33 is free to move so that instead of the lever 30 rotating about the pivot pin 33 and thereby lowering the plunger 23, the pin 33 moves upwardly, and since the pin 33 is fixed in the arms 6 of the base member 2, the base member and housing move toward each other, thereby closing the jaws without causing lowering of the staple driving plunger 23.

When the jaws are stopped by the material, the operating lever 31, which has been rotating clockwise on pin 39 since end 32 of arm 30 was stopped by cross-brace on head 25, continues to rotate on pin 39, moving the link 35, arm 30 and plunger 23 into the position shown in Figure 4, thereby driving and clinching staple l4 into material M.

After the material M has been stapled and clinched, the hand pressure on the operating lever 31 is released. The first action which takes place upon release of pressure is the lowering of the base 2 relative to the housing 1, thereby opening the jaws 3 and 53 while the plunger 23 remains in the lowered position, shown in Figure 4, until the lugs Go on arms 6 stop against shoulder Ia on housing 1, thus stopping further opening of the jaws. Pressure of leg 40a of spring 40 against link 35 will then urge rivets 36 into the position shown in Figure 1, thus rotating lever 39 clockwise on pin 33, lifting the plunger 23 part-way up the driving channel and returning all parts to the position shown in Figure 1. Notice that spring 40 in Figure 4 is exerting pressure towards pin 33, which pin is secured to arms 6 which are a part of the base 2. Spring 40 is around pin 39, which pin is secured on the housing I; thus, pressure by spring 40 will urge pins 33 and 39 apart, allowing the link connection between lever 30 and lever 31 to untumble or straighten out. Lever 39 rotates clockwise slightly on pin 33 during this part of the action, but the ends 32 on lever 39 remain in the lowered position shown in Figure 4 except that end 32 slides forward. When lugs 6a on arms 6 contact shoulder Ia on housing I, the rivets 36 are not yet in the position shown in Figure 1. Therefore, spring 40 continues to urge the rivets 36 to their under-center position, thereby returning all parts to the position shown in Figure 1.

Due to the novel means for raising the plunger 23 during the closing of the jaws and due to the tumbling or collapsing action of the link 35 with respect to the plunger actuating lever 30, the operating lever 31 has to move only a short distance toward the base member 2 in order to cause the jaws to close. Thus by my mechanism 1 provide a relatively large jaw opening without increasing the spread between the operating lever and the base member of the machine. This large jaw opening enables me to staple thicker material and to use longer staples than can ordinarily be employed. My arrangement is such that although the jaw opening is relatively large, the mechanical advantage or leverage is great. All of the stapling machines of this type now on the market have a limited jaw opening and a limited staple length due to the fact that the leverage action required would not perm the y- 6 ment of a large jaw opening or a long staple leg length.

It will be seen that in my stapling machine the pressure exerted on the staple driving plunger 23 is not limited by any spring pressure. In my machine, since the operating lever 31 is pivoted at 39 on the housing I and the plunger actuating lever 30 is pivoted at 33 on the base member 2, the pressure exerted through link 35 to drive a staple will exert extreme pressure against the material M between the jaws 3 and 53. Other machines on the market utilize spring pressure alone to hold the material between the jaws. However, in my stapling machine the pressure exerted by the jaws on the material is determined by the resistance ofiered by the material to penetration of the material by the staple. The greater the resistance offered by the material to penetration by a staple, the greater is the pressure exerted by the jaws on the material. Accordingly, in my machine there is no chance for a staple to buckle outwardly and raise the head of the machine, as can be done on a machine using spring pressure to clamp the material being stapled. My machine automatically increases or decreases the pressure of the jaws on the material as the pressure required for the staple to penetrate the material increases or decreases.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment, which is merely illustrative of the invention, but may be otherwise embodied or practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A stapling device comprising an upper memher and a base member, said members being pivoted in relation to each other adjacent one end, the other ends of said members being free to movetoward each other to grip material to be stapled, said upper member having adjacent its other end a head forming a material gripping upper jaw and having a staple driving channel, said base member having adjacent its other end a material gripping lower jaw, means carried by said upper member for feeding staples to said staple driving channel, a staple driving plunger, means mounting said plunger for reciprocating movement in said head, a plunger actuating lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said base and operably connected adjacent one end to said plunger, and an operating lever pivotally mounted on and. movable with said upper member, means operably connecting said plunger activating lever and said operating lever whereby operation of said operating lever will actuate said plunger actuating lever and said staple driving plunger to drive a staple into material held between said upper and said lower jaw.

2. A stapling device comprising an upper member and a base member, said members being pivoted in relation to each other adjacent one end, the other ends of said members being free to move towards each other to grip material to be stapled, said upper member having adjacent its other end a head forming a material gripping upper jaw and having a staple driving channel, said base member having adjacent its other end a material gripping lower jaw, means for feeding staples to said staple driving channel, a staple driving plunger, means mounting said plunger for reciprocating movement in said head, a plunger actuating lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said base and connected adjacent one end to said plunger, an operating lever pivotally mounted on said upper member between the pivot of said upper and base members and ampss the pivot of said plunger actuating lever, and a link pivotally connecting said operating lever and said plunger actuating lever, the connection between said link and said plunger actuating lever being below the center line between the plunger actuating lever pivot and the pivot of said link on said operating lever.

3- A. stapling device comprising an upper member and a base member, said members being pivoted in relation to each other adjacent one end, the other ends of said members being movable relative to each other to grip material to be stapled, said upper member having adjacent its other end a head forming a material gripping upper jaw and having a staple driving channel, said base member having adjacent its other end a material gripping lower jaw and means for clinching a staple, means carried by said upper member for feeding staples to said staple driving channel, a staple driving plunger, means mounting said plunger for reciprocating movement in said head, an operating lever pivoted on one of said members, a plunger actuating lever pivoted on the other of said members, and a rigid connector operably joining said levers whereby a force exerted on the operating lever is transmitted in part through the rigid connector to the plunger actuating lever to operate the same and rigidly urge the member pivoted to the actuating lever through said connection against one side L prising means for releasably locking said plunger actuating lever, said connecting means and said operating lever together to prevent substantial movement of said operating lever on its pivot and to prevent said plunger from moving toward said base member, whereby manual pressure on said operating lever moves the free ends of said upper and base members together to grip material to be stapled and moves said plunger upwardly relative to said head from a staple blocking position to a staple feeding position While substantial movement of said operating lever on its pivot is prevented.

5. A stapling device according to claim 4, comprising obstructionmeans carried on the device adapted to contact said actuating means to release the latter from its locked position as the free ends of said upper and base members approach each other to grip material to be stapled, whereby pressure on said operating lever, acting through said connecting means, actuates the plunger to drive a staple.

6, A stapling device according to claim 5, comprising a. spring urging said upper member and base member apart and urging said plunger actuating lever, said connecting mean and said operating lever into locked position.

7. A stapling device according to claim 3, wherein said operating lever which is pivoted on one of said members forms part of a hand gripping means, and a portion of the other member forms the other part of a. hand gripping means for urging said other ends of said upper and base members toward each other.

8. A stapling device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pivot of said link with said operating lever is movable with said operating lever during the closing of said jaws from a position along a line drawn between the pivot of said actuating lever on said base member and the pivot of said members with each other to a position to one side of said line.

9. In a stapling device comprising an upper member and a base member, said members being pivoted in relation to each other adjacent one end, the other ends of said members being movable relative to each other to grip material to be stapled, said upper member having adjacent its other end a head forming a material gripping upper jaw and having a staple driving channel, said base member having adjacent its other end a. material gripping lower jaw and means for clinching a staple, means carried by said upper member for feeding staples to said staple driving channel, a staple driving plunger, means mounting said plunger for reciprocating movement in said head, multiple levers operably connected together by a rigid connector adapted to transmit a part of manual power applied on one lever through said connector to another lever operably connected to said plunger ior rigidly reciprocating the latter, operable connector means between said members and said connected levers adapted to rigidly transmit the balance of said power from said connected levers to said members for urging the latter to grip said material while said power urges said plunger connected lever to move said plunger to secure a staple in said material.

HERMAN J. SPENCER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,028,350 Polzer Jan. 21, 1936 2,107,522 Cavanagh Feb, 8, 1938 2,165,572 Panlronin July 11, 1939 2,218,934 Germain Oct. 22, 1940 2,310,529 Krantz Feb. 9, 1943 2,354,760 Lindstrom Aug. 1, 1944 2,472,032 Wandei May 31, 1949 

